One New Man

27 The commander came and said to Sha’ul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes,” he said. 28 The commander replied, “I bought this citizenship for a sizeable sum of money.” “But I was born to it,” Sha’ul said. 29 At once the men who had been about to interrogate him drew back from him; and the commander was afraid too, because he realized that he had put this man who was a Roman citizen in chains.

Even in chains Sha’ul gives us an illustration of the one new man. The captain having bought his citizenship at great price has been grafted onto the community and given some authority. Sha’ul though he’s been born to his postion selected even before birth. As the one new man it is up to those of us grafted in to protect our Jewish brothers so that they might preach the Word to the world as the priestly nation they are called to be.